176 Bibliographical Notices. 



as their structure is massive or lamiuated. Of the seas in 

 ■which these oldest rocks originated, of the life-forms inhabiting the 

 waters and lands of their times, Switzerland gives no e\-ideuce. 

 Their hidden story is to the rest of the geological record of the Alps 

 what the mythic i)oriod is to any human history. Everyday affairs 

 in the one, and organic and inorganic processes in the other, may 

 have been conducted on the same principles as at present ; but the 

 details have been obscured and are irrevocable. 



The strata formed in the Carboniferous period have in many 

 places participated in the successive foldings and squeezings of the 

 mountain-masses ; and the coal has been changed into anthracite. 

 Much, however, remains sufficiently unaltered, in the Lower Yalais 

 and elsewhere, to supply evidence that the crystalline rocks of the 

 Central Alps had been raised above the sea at the Coal-period, that 

 the corals and shells are those of the Mountain-limestone elsewhere, 

 and that the jungles and forests, which were converted into seams 

 of coal, consisted of the great trees of the Clubmoss family {Lycopo- 

 diacece), the gigantic Calamites, and the manifold Ferns, which 

 grew so abundantly at that time in nearly every region of the 

 world. In Chapter I. Prof. Heer discourses with knowledge on the 

 origin of coal, and of analogous formations of peat, paper-coal, and 

 lignite, and on some of the plants and insects found in the shales of 

 the Coal-measures. The succeeding Permian (or Dyas) series is 

 represented by red sandstone, with breccia, in the valley of the 

 Sernft or Sernif. This rock, termed Sernifite by M. Heer, contains 

 copper-ores, as usual with rocks of that age. 



The Swiss Saliferous formation is the subject of Chapter II. 

 Here the origin of rock-salt by the desiccation of shallow seas is 

 briefly discussed, and the Swiss salt-works described. The fossils 

 of the Muschelkalk and especially the fossil plants found in the 

 Keuper (Plates II. & III.) are treated of. 



Chapter III. elucidates the history of the Liassic strata (the 

 BlacTc Jura of the Germans) occurring at Schembelen in the Canton 

 of Aargau. An analogous recent formation is described as taking 

 place at the Gongulho, Madeira. "What kind of creatures the Liassic 

 fossils once were is shown by the study of the shells, crustaceans, 

 fishes, seaweeds, land-plants, and insects. Among the last are 

 Cockroaches, Grasshoppers, Earwigs, Termites, Dragonflies, 114 

 species of Beetles (comprising such as feed on wood, fungi, leaves, 

 flowers, dung, and carrion, and on insects and other small creatures, 

 showing the contemporary existence of a multitude of terrestrial 

 organisms), also "Water-beetles and some other insects. Figures of 

 many fossils determined by M. Heer are given in Pis. IV.-YIII. 

 Some comparisons are offered of the Liassic fauna of Switzerland 

 with that in other countries. The extent of the marine areas of 

 the Lias and their warm climate, the fertility of the Lias and its 

 hydrocarbon products are also noted. 



The ^Middle and Upper Jurassic Formations (" Brown " and 

 " "\iN'hite Jura " of the Germans, " Oolites " of the English, &c.) are 

 treated of in Chapter I\"., which is full of interesting information 



